


Neighbors (Rami Malek fanfiction)

by nnsrhndhj



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, Mr. Robot (TV), Rami Malek - Fandom
Genre: F/M, RPF, rami malek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 23:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17631380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nnsrhndhj/pseuds/nnsrhndhj
Summary: Darya moves into her new apartment loft in New York city. She is about to get ready to work her new job and get settled in her new place. But sadly one of her neighbours, called Rami Malek, in that industrial building makes her go kind of mad... which turns out to be a story full of encounters which were meant to be.





	1. Chapter 1

A big firm buidling with a rustical look outside. The neighborhood was all clean and nice, yet that one building gave it a special touch. It was a good part of New York. Kind of a new underground scenery which was about to uprise and live that NY mood up. One or two cute cafes, vintage botiques and a row of jewish, arabic, chinese and african supermarkets. It was a colorful area in its blooming times.

Darya pushed herself against the heavy box shifting it inside her new apartment. She rested her hands in her waist looking around. She let a hopeful and relaxed breath out. One more time she bend over to push the box next to the others in the middle of the big bright room. She strived one strand of her shiny honey brown hair out of her face to put it behind her ear. She moved towards the wall to pull a big rolled up carpet to the ground. She let it fall and cut the bandages holding it. She then put one of her foot on the edge of the carpet and with her other foot she kicked the carpet towards the big windows in front of her. It unfolded itself and a big beautiful persian carpet covered the wood floor. She started to smile "Having a wood floor in such a building is really a lucky incident." She moved her way towards the two big windows which had one glass door in between. She opened it and stepped outside on the balcony "And even a balcony. What more could I ask for, forthis price!" Again she smiled threw her arms in the air and stretched herself for good five long seconds. She looked to her  side noticing that the other apartment had a balcony too, of course. Other than hers it covered itselves from stranger looks with wood walls and big beautiful trees. She bit herself on the lip thinking she should get something like that too. She lifted her face to see another balcony above her. So many neighbors she thought. But her landlord told her that her neighbors are really nice and comfortable with each other. Especially the neighbor above her is almost never there.

Darya - also called Ari by her friends - walked back into her apartment and closed the door. She started to open her boxes and put her books up the shelf which was there already. Most things as the kitchen, a desk in the bedroom, which was simply divided by walls without any door and as mentioned before the bookshelf was there before. As she looked around she started to love her new apartment. 

She decorated  her new home the whole day and let the workers inside who brought her few pieces from back home. Her sofa, a table, her bed and a few other boxes. In the evening the sun slowly went down and Ari wanted to use the last sunrays to let her freshly washed clothes dry on her balcony. She loved that she had a balcony where she could chill in the morning to drink her coffee and let her clothes air-dry and with some more help of the sun. She hung up her last shirt on the rail of her balcony and then she took a deep deep breath to take a spin around herself just like a ballerina. One more time she threw her arms in the air and talked to herself "I love it! This is gonna be great!" She laughed to herself and watched the sun go down. She always knew she had a tendency for theatrical behaviour but this scene was just too perfect. She tried to enjoy every second of it. 

**_ Next day _ **

Ari got up and stretched herself looking at the bright light which  shed upon her through her window in her bedroom. She walked into the kitchen, which was connected to her living room and made herself some coffee and breakfast. She sat down at the table in her living room, on some of her oriental cushions.  She liked it more than sitting on her sofa. After she finished her breakfast she looked around and smiled. Her new apartment was really the way she wanted it to be. It would be her new safe place, her harbour to always go back to.

 

**A layout of Darya's apartment:**

       

Darya took her coffee to go outside on her balcony. Wouldn't her coffee taste way better with some fresh air? She opened her balcony doors and stepped outside. She looked around and then she saw what she didn't expect. Here whole clothes were wet? She frowned her forhead "What the heck?" She ran towards her clothes hanging up on the rail of her balcony "Did it rain?" she asked as she looked around "But everything is dry." She didn't understand what was going on. Suddenly cold water splashed on her head. She screamed while she pulled herself back trying not to let her coffee fall down "Aaah!" She didnt' understand the world. She frowned her forhead one more time after she processed the shock. She slowly walked towards her balcony rail again and looked to her left and to her right, then she opened her mouth slowly "Hello?". Silence. She shook her head "I must be mistaken. But it's not raining." she stuck her head over her balcony rails and watched above. She saw a whole row of plant pots hanging on the balcony's apartment above her. She let out a "Huh!". Suddenly another voice made it to her ears "Hello?". Again she startled and pulled her head back inside. She looked around and slowly answered "Yeah... hello?" The man's voice answered "Ah, yes. I heard a scream. But I wasn't sure if I heard right. Is everything ok?". Darya blinked a few times "Ah, yes. Yes." she said and made a little pause. Then she snapped out of her trance "Actually when I just came out I saw my whole laundry is wet. And when I checked my head got wet too. That's why I was caught off guard." she heard the man put something down and he started to laugh a little bit "Oh yes. I am sorry. I watered my plants. I didn't know... better said I forgot someone moved in. The place you are staying at now, was empty for a long time. That's why I am used to noone staying there." Ari understood "I see. That's ok I guess. But please could you take care from now on? It's ok. I will just let the clothes dry again today." she said as she walked backwards slowly. She wanted to go back inside before she heard the man talking again "Yes sure. I will keep it in mind. Nice to meet you and welcome to the neighborhood." the man said. Ari opened her mouth "Right. Thank you so much. And nice to meet you too." she said before closing the balcony door. It seemed as if the man, who was her neighbor from above, was back. Her landlord told her he stayed in this apartment every year for a short time. She thought to herself that her first encounter with a neighbor was startling but ended nicely anyways. She took a look at her clock on her table, which she didn't hung up yet and noticed, it was time to get ready for work. She hopped into her bedroom to open a box with clothes. She pulled out some nice pieces to put them on. As always a skinny jeans and a loose big blue shirt. She took her black little bag and grabbed her sunglasses. Now she was ready to go. 

She worked as a research assistant in the department of sinology in a well known university nearby. She knew that many would ask what sinology is and Ari always gave the same answer smiling " Chinese studies"and then people usually gave an "Aha!" or "Oh!" as a response. At work she made herself familiar with her new few co-workers and her boss. There were many professors who were going to work with her but one of them was going to look after her more than others. After all, she was going to write her PhD about a work where she needed to work together with  that one certain professor. She actually liked having her own office with a desk and a computer. It made her feel kind of important and it made her feel as if her work was meaningful to the world of academics. On her first day not many tasks were on the due. She just had to get to know the systems the university worked with. Other than that she did some little research for her own work. When she looked out the window she realized that the sun didn't shine as much as it did the day before. She thought about her clothes on the balcony and immediatley she thought of her neighbor. She asked herself what kind of a person he was and how he looked like. She remembered his voice being kind of husky, yet calm and kind of hypnotizing due to the slow way he talked. She nodded her head and thought he indeed talked slowly but not too slow. That was good. Really good. Then she shook her head to snap out of her little thought. She let herself fall into her desk chair looking at the clock at the big white and empty wall of her office. It was time to go home she thought. Home. The way she thought of her new apartment made her happy. 

She took the subway home which only took her around 15 minutes. It was slowly getting kind of dark and as she made her way towards her building. She saw a tall figure come out of the building she lived in. Maybe not super tall but taller than her since she was only about 167 cm. Which was average in her opinion. The person was wearing a shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. That was everything she was able to figure out in the dawning light. She noticed that the door to her building was about to fall closed. She ran to grab it and made it inside like a quick little flash. She saw an older lady in her 60s getting her letters. Ari looked at her and greeted her while making her way around her to push the button of the elevator. She extended her hand to shake to woman's hand. The old lady smiled and shook Ari's hand "Hello! Are you the new neighbor?" Ari was happy that the lady was so nice "Yes indeed. That's me. Nice to meet you, my name is Ari." The old lady seemed overjoyed "Oh how nice, how nice. Usually neighbors in big cities don't know each other. Especially the young kids nowadays don't care about knowing their neighbor. I'm happy to see I was wrong. So your apartment is 402 isn't it?" Ari nodded "Yes exactly. How about you ma'am?" The old lady took Ari's hand into hers and patted it with her other hand lightly "Oh, oh I am in 301. I am living there with my husband. We've been together for more than 35 years now." Ari laughed happily when the elevator opened its doors. She could have used the stairs but she was too lazy after a day of work. Ari smiled "Are you gonna take the elevator?" the women shook her head "No my kid. I am gonna go out now." Ari nodded and took the elevator and waved at the old lady as the doors got closed. 

When Ari arrived in her four walls she tought of what she should eat. She wasn't gonna cook on her first day of work. So she just put a pizza in the oven to relax on her sofa. She then got up one more time thinking of her laundry. She went onto the balcony touching them "Still a bit wet. Well I guess when I leave them dry until tomorrow it's gonna be all dry again." She made her way back into the apartment and ate her dinner to finally relax, read and watch some tv. After she lay in bed and let the two days pass review she thought that it was pretty good. The little accident with her neighbor and her wet clothes was definitly not worth labeling as bad and she thought that after all it was just the way she imagined it. She felt warm under her blanket and in between her red brick walls. She slowly forgot her thoughts and fell into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ari slowly opened her eyes blinking at sunrays carressing her face. She yawned and pulled the blanket aside. She usually had her normal sleeping blanket with annother fur cover. She did always tend to be cold so she wore long clothes and used two blanket sleeping. She never understood how people could sleep with short clothes, let alone sleeping naked. She stretched her legs and got up from her bed moving to the bathroom. She went into her morning routine preparing her breakfast and coffee. This time she read a book while eating her breakfast. A novel she wasn't too crazy about. It wasn't a book she would recommend someone else. But other than that, she needed to end what she started. After she ate her last piece of eggs she grabbed her coffee walking towards her balcony. As she got out and stood there an empty smile formed on her face, her hands became stiff almost looking like a hand made of wood branches. As she smiled and closed her eyes she let out a sigh through her nose. She turned around, putting down her cup on her living room table and stormed outside on her balcony again "God dammit! Again?" she screamed. She grabbed one of her shirts and let out a little sqeauk "Oh my god. Why?" she made whining sounds "Is he stupid or stupid?" she said putting her shirt back on the rail. She stuck her head out "Hello? Helloooo? Is there someone?" but there was no answer. She became a little furious but tried to calm herself down. She spread her hands and talked to herself "It's ok. These are only clothes." she said trying to relax. She walked into her bedroom and opened a drawer of her desk. She took out a pen and purple post-its. She wrote a little note, saying:

**\- DEAR NEIGHBOR, MY CLOTHES ARE WET AGAIN. KEEP IN MIND :) -**

She tried to sound as nice as possible. She untacked the post-it and put on her slippers "When I live 402 and he lives above me, he gotta be 502." She walked towards her apartment door opened it wide and took the stairs on the floor. She reached the fifth floor and knew exactly where to head. She stood in front of a big green iron door surrounded with red bricks, just like her apartment door. But this door had the number 502. She knocked real hard, waited a few seconds and knocked again. She bit on her lip "Obviously noone's home. I am overreacting anyways. This note is gonna be enough." She sighed and bent down sliding the note underneath the door. She got up, scratched her ear and nodded "Yeah that's gonna do it." she smiled and reassured herself. She knew that it wasn't a big thing and she shouldn't act this way. Luckily her neighbor wasn't home so he wasn't gonna think she was another young crazy chick.

The day at work passed by super quickly. Once more she checked the big clock on her big white office wall. She got up and picked up her bag walking towards the door. In the subway she looked at other people with a blurred view. When she arrived at her station, from where she had five to ten more minutes to walk, until she arrived home.  
She pushed the button of the elevator, waiting for it. When she arrived at her floor she started to grab out the keys to her apartment. She opened the door walked inside and threw her bag onto her bed. She let herself fall on the greyish-lilac sofa in her living room. She closed her eyes for good five minutes thinking about what to eat. She thought about food so much. Why was she thinking about food that often? After all it was one main ingridient to survive. Suddenly she heard a knock on her apartment door. Ari tore her eyes apart pushing herself up from her sofa. She frowned her forehead walking towards the door grabing its knob. She didn't open it but waited a few more seconds. Suddenly there was another strong and firm knock. She blinked a few times and then opened the door. She saw a young man with two paper bags in his hands. Ari mainly focused on the mans hands sighing "Oh I didn't order anything." she said laughing. Looking at the guy she closed the door slowly, but still laughed nervously. After she closed the door and turned around, there was another knock. She opened the door "Ehm... I didn't order this." Ari thought that the young man obviously didn't understand her. She analyzed him noticing his easy curly hair and big green eyes. To her he looked kinda arabic. She opened her mouth "Arabic?" The young man opened his eyes wide. She got him. The guy was arabic "Ani..."( arab. I) Ari said pointing at herself and then moving her finger to the paper bags "La." (arab. No). She repeated "Ani la."  
The guy smiled and stretched out his hand handing her a post-it "This is from your neighbor." The guy said laughing. Ari startled in surprise "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry." she said laughing. She looked at the post-it:

**-I am sorry. I hope this will make it better. Welcome :)-**

Ari smiled and nodded "Ok then. Wait a minute." She walked to her bag taking a few dollars out. She handed the money to the young guy "Thank you!" she said taking the paper bags out of his hands. She walked over to her table putting them on it. Then she heard the delievery guys voice again "Actually..." he said. Darya's head looked up, still not facing the man. Wait a second that guys voice was way too familiar she thought. A loud voice said "I am your neighbor." pointing with his finger up. When Ari turned around her gaze caught his awkward smile which on the other side seemed so peculiar for him. She saw how he put the few dollars in his pocket "But thank you." he laughed. Ari's mouth opened "Oh my god... Hi? I mean hi!" She walked towards him grabbing his hand. At the same moment she thought she couldn't let him stay outside "Do you want to come in?" she asked. They laughed a bit "No I am fine." he said. Ari kind of pulled his hand "No, no come inside. You brought me so much food. It's a common courtesy, right?" She looked into his green eyes seeing he slowly changed his mind. Once more she said in a nice high tone "Come in." The guy nodded and smiled walking with his head down into the apartment. Ari took a close look at his figure from behind while closing the door. She just asked a  stranger to enter her apartment. What in the world was she thinking. She thought that he was her neighbor and his eyes looked way to kind to be a psychopath. But in the end all psychopaths had charming blood cold eyes. She forced herself to put that insane thought aside. He took a look around "You made it look nice in here." he said nodding assurely. Ari went into the kitchen to get plates and some forks "Oh you know this apartment?" she asked walking towards the table. She put them down on the table and stretched her hand towards her sofa to indicate him to take a seat. He let out a little oh and took a seat. Ari smiled "I forgot to mention. My name is Darya. But you can call me Ari." she said taking her own seat on the colorful ottoman cushions on her floor. The man smiled "Darya. What a nice name. I am Rami, Rami Malek." he said. Darya looked at him putting her head to the side "Angel..." she would say in low voice but still hearable. He opened his eyes wide "What?" he asked. Ari shook her head "I mean your name. Your last name. It means angel. That's really pretty." she made some vivid hand movements while talking. She raised her body to open the paper bags. Rami let his rosen eyebrows fall down smiling again "Ant arabi? You just spoke arabic too." (Arab. Are you arab?). Again Ari shook her head laughing shortly as if it was a sigh coming out "No no. I'm not arab. I am persian. You know we have a lot words in common." Rami leaned back into the couch "Yeah I can see that. You look quite exotic." he said, adding "Just like me. And in addition your style is a bit oriental too. I like your cushions. Seeing you sit on the floor makes me think of my distant family a bit." he said laughing at his own joke at the beginning. Ari rose her eyes looking at him and smiling. She took a few things out of the paper bags asking herself why there'd be so much. Two big paper bags. Rami leaned in again "Oh. One must be cold and the other is still hot. Since I didn't know when you'd be home I ordered a second time after the first delievery got cold. Luckily there wasn't a third time." he said laughing again awkwardly normal in his own way. Ari handed him the plate and the fork "Yeah that's really a lot. But there you go. I hope you enjoy it." He grabbed the plate and the fork "Oh well I hope you like chinese take out." he said raising his eyes to look at Ari who was smiling widely assuring him that she did like it. They ate dinner in an awkwardly, yet calming silence. In what kind of a situation did she get herself into? She planned to get to know her neighbors from afar. Maybe one small chit chat here and there on the floor. Just like with the old lady before. That was ideal. But she wasn't ready for full direct contact. Once a while Ari stood up to get glasses and something to drink. Another time she put some music on. Rami was really absorbed into the apartment but he broke the silence "So Ari what are doing here?" he asked. Ari dipped her spring roll into the dip sauce "Well I am from a smaller town near New York and now I am working as an research assistant in the chinese studies department in the university here." she said firmly. Rami's mouth opened forming a smile "Wow. So you speak chinese I guess." Ari nodded not adding anything "How about you? You don't seem as if you are from New York." Rami laughed "How did you know? That's right. I am actually from LA. I am gonna stay here for a while because of work." Ari licked her lips "So... you are gonna stay for a longer time?" she asked. Rami nodded and then shook his head at the same time "Maybe. Might be. Not sure yet. I am not here so often usually." Rami said putting his plate on the table. He got up and walked around the wide open room. He looked at the big clock on the kitchen counter. He grabbed it and held it up "You didn't put it up?" he asked. Ari turned around "Oh yes. I totally forgot about that. Yeah, I don't know how to do it. The walls here are all made of brick. I don't want to mess it up and get my landlord angry." Rami put it back "I will do it for you. I got the utensils and can do it for you." Ari shook her head "No way. There's no need for you to do it." she said waving her hand. He walked towards her sitting next to her on a cushion "No really. I like to do it. And I won't mess it up like your clothes." he said laughing. Ari smiled and started to harmonize joining his laugh. She nodded her head. She looked at her plate pushing it away from herself. And when she watched to her side, she caught her neighbor looking at her straightly. He didn't move, neither did he look away embarrassed. He just looked at her as if he was absorbing her gaze. One more time Ari let a sigh-like laugh out "So..." she said. Rami formed a smile on his face "So... It's time to go. It's late and I am sure you need to work tomorrow." he said getting up walking towards the apartment door. Darya followed him. He opened the door by himself. Stepped outside with his hands in his pocket "That was good neighbor. See you!" he said loudly going up the stairs. Darya shouted behind him "Thank you for the food. Good night!" not sure if he heard it. She closed the door and blinked a few times. 


	3. Chapter 3

Ari lay in bed thinking about her new neighbor. When she was with him, she wasn't able to look at him close enough. She was busy not letting her weird side hang out. She let a breath out and closed her eyes. After one millisecond a pair of green big eyes appeared in front of her. Ari was absorbed in that image in front of her eyes. She smiled unconciously and slowly the pair of eyes unfold itself into a face. A smiling face. She noticed the beautiful laugh lines around his wide smile. As she slowly opened her eyes her smile disappeared. She knew she was alone but she felt caught. It was not as she liked him but she had to admit, that he was a really nice neighbor. That wasn't typical for New Yorkians. But since he was from LA she knew why he was the way he was. Plus he was arab and that explained his manners which she was really familiar with due to her own family. She scratched her neck and put the book she had on her belly aside. She closed her eyes to simply fall asleep, not distracting herself with unimportant thoughts anymore.

**Next day:**

Ari ran from her pan with eggs to pour herself some coffee. She ran and ate like the wind. It was just the first week but she was risking being late at work. She ate her eggs in under one minute and poured her coffee from her mug into a coffee cup to go. She thought what a waste of a mug, she didn't even take a sip from it but later she would need to wash it. She stormed out the door and pushed the elevator button two or three times. When she got that it would take ages until the elevator would come she ran towards the stairs. When she ran down she heard steps behind her "Why are you running like that?" Rami asked running behind her cautiously. Ari didn't even turn her head answering "Oh, I am late for work. But I can make it. I know I can make it when I get the train." Rami suddenly catched up and ran faster than her. He disappeared from her sight. She had two more stairs to go. She didn't see her neighbor on the second nor on the first floor. When she arrived at the exit she saw him standing in the door holding it open. She couldn't believe it and frowned her head while laughing. She exited the building turning her head. Rami standed in the door forming his hand to a fist "You can make it!" he shouted motivating behind her. Darya just smiled and ran towards her aimed location. The subway station.

After some while at work she relaxed and fell back into her black leather chair. She couldn't get her new neighbor out of her head. He was so playful and she had to admit that she really like that. There aren't many grown ups who still like to joke and play around at that kind of age. She thought that it might be okay if she showed him her weird side. At least thats what other people at her age called her when she did her stupid jokes and acted funny. Ari never wanted to fully grow up. She always strived against it. But year by year being surrounded by "normal" people she got adapted to their behaviour. The only people which still frequently saw her true colors was her family. When she did sarcastic jokes and imitated family members. Or just did some weird dance moves. That's why Ari always wanted to live apart from society. She didn't want them to make her the way she was most afraid of.

Ari slowly caught concious and thought how it was how her thoughts carried her away. She simply thought of Rami but it made her think about her whole life. She leaned back to her computer deciding to do some more research before she left work. She turned her computer off and grabbed her bag. On the subway she thought about what to eat for dinner again. She made her way through the tight mass of people to get off the sub. She slowly slendered home with her black bag in her one hand. She thought she could jump home and dance before she arrived. So she danced her last metres into the door. She knew she wasn't a ballerina but she liked to act as if. She pushed the button of the elevator and got in since it came right away. When the doors closed she saw a hand stopping it from closing. When the doors opened again she saw Rami " Oh, hi!" she said. He got in and pushed the button to his floor "I saw you from far and you are such a nice ballerina." he laughed. Ari was embarressed and looked to her side "Oh." she scratched her neck "Well, that was just for fun." she trief to defend herself. Rami laughed "No, that's good. When you want to be a ballerina just be one." he assured her "Do you always take the elevator?" he asked. She looked over to him to just keep a close look at him, not like before "Yes. Usually. Why?" she asked. He shook his head "Just asking. I usually take the stairs." he said shrugging his shoulders. She looked at his body up and down. He looked quite thin but she saw his muscles on his arm since he folded them in front of his breast. She quickly looked away and let out a breath. She the arrived at her floor. She walked out and turned around to wave at Rami "See you later!" he said waving back. Darya frowned her forehead. He smiled "The clock!" he said before the door closed. When he was gone she let out an ah. She quickly grabbed her keys and went into her apartment. She totally forgot he wanted to put the clock for her up. She bit on her lip and depended her arms on the kitchen counter "Ok. Then I need to cook, I guess." she looked around in her kitchen to come up with a recipe. She didn't know what Rami would like and if there was anything he wouldn't eat. In the end she decided to wait for him. It was better than cooking something he wouldn't eat. She layed on her sofa and tried to relax a bit. After some time she heard a knocking on the door. She got up from her half sleep and opened the door. Rami was there with a box in one hand smiling widely. She smiled and signed him to come in "Sorry. Were you asleep?" he put the obvious tool box on the ground. Ari walked behind the kitchen counter "No, no. I just layed on the sofa for a bit." She looked at Rami who was smiling widely with his hands in his pocket. He nodded. Ari took out a pan "So what do you wanna eat? I will cook." Rami waved with his hand "Oh no. No need to cook." Ari laughed loudly "You are indeed middle eastern. It's ok. I will cook for myself anyways. So is there anything you don't like or don't eat?" she knew she was lying. She would have either put something in the oven or ordered food. But she knew after he was going to help her out, even when it's forced, it was the courtesy to offer something in exchange.

She would flip the vegetable in the pan and look at Rami standing on a small ladder trying to set the big clock on the wall next to the entrance. He finally took the drill and positioned it on the wall he started to drill a hole in between two bricks. He then put something in the hole and finally something looking like a nail. He hung the clock up and took a close look at it. He waited a few seconds and wanted to finally get off the ladder when the clock suddenly fell down. Rami stretched his hand out to catch the clock. Also Ari threw the cooking spoon aside in shock heading to Rami's location. He was there in a totally frozen posture with the clock in his hand. Ari let go off the pan.

"Oh no what did you do?"  
"I don't know."  
"You don't know? You don't KNOW?"  
"I mean I tried to hang the clock up."  
"Rami! There are broken off brick pieces on the ground."  
"Yeah... I'm sorry."  
"What am I gonna do? My landlord is gonna kill me."  
"No. Don't worry about that."  
"Don't worry about that? How? I will have to pay for that. Oh my god."  
"No, no. Look first of all I will try it again. I will hang it up a little higher so the damage will be covered by the clock, okay?"  
"Are you kidding me? You wanna drill another hole after this?"  
"And then, I will talk to you landlord, okay?"  
"No why would you? It's my responsibility."  
"No I am serious. I will talk to him. I've known him for quite a time. So it will be alright."

Rami stepped down the ladder moved nearer to Ari and put his hand on her shoulder. He carressed it down her arm smiling at her. Ari felt as if a struck hit her. She just looked down and nodded after a few seconds. When she looked up again Rami pulled his hand back. She walked backwards into the kitchen again. She stood behind the pan and couldn't believe how easy he changed her mind. Then she had an oho moment. He manipulated her she thought. She let out a breath "What a bastard." she said in a low voice "Oh no. I said I'm sorry didn't I?" the voice behinf her sounded. He appeared as sudden as it suddenly started to rain. Ari opened her mouth "No. Not you. I am thinking of work." she tried to save herself. She felt hin stepping closer and looking over her shoulder at what she was cooking "That smells so good." he said slowly word by word. Darya didn't dare to look up. She felt his warmth even though they weren't touching. All of a sudden she was getting even more annoyed. Rami looked to his side to get a glimpse of Darya's profile. His mouth was open and his eyes wanderes from her eyes to her nose and finally to her lips. He suddenly put his right hand the kitchen counter. Ari thought when he was going to try any weird move she'd just hit him with the pan. She might seem harmless but when she had to she would defend herself. At that moment Rami pushed himself away from the counter to turn around and rest on it backwards. That way he stood next to Ari and could face her. Ari felt a mix of many feelings. Rami looked at her with his arms folded in front if his breast. He bit on his lips.  
"So Darya. How was work? Or how is work in general?"  
"Oh today I made it on time. And thanks again for holding the door open. I am sure it's only thanks to that."  
"I am happy to do that anytime. And are you happy there?"  
"Oh yes really happy. My co workers are really nice and the professor that cares for me is really knowledgable. I love it."  
"And you do your own research too, isn't it?"  
"Yeah that's right."  
"What is your field? I mean what do you research?"  
"What? Why would you wanna know that?" Ari laughed.  
"Just." Rami shrugged his shoulders.  
"I am researching ancient China's relation to other civilizations over the Silk Road."  
"Wow." Rami said scratching his chin.  
"I'm sorry but when I talk about my work I usually get excited. I made my hobby my job. And that's why I love it so much."   
"No that's a really good things. Well when you can, would you teach me about some things?"  
Ari picked out two plates and frowning her forehead. Why would he wanna know something like that.  
"Why?" now she really thought he was making weird moves.  
"Well the thing is, I could use it for my work." they both filled the plates up and moved to the sofa. Rami sat on the couch and Ari took her beloved place on a cushion.   
"Your work? What do you actually work as?"  
"Well I am an actor."  
"An actor?"  
"Yes."  
"Oh. Isn't that hard? I heard actors really struggle to get their career working." she said with earnesty.  
Rami had his hands folded and rested his arms on his knees. When he realized how serious Ari was his mouth moved upwards on one side.  
"Well yeah. It can be really tough at times. There's a big big concurrence of course."  
Ari nodded eating her food. Rami realized that Ari wasn't the type to turn the tv on so often. He wanted to ask her out loud but he resisted "Darya you are really amazing." he said laughing and falling back into the sofa.   
Ari licked her mouth and just looked up at him. She then turned around to look at the clock "Looks good. Thank you."  
Rami chewed on his food and smiled "Welcome. And I will talk to the landlord." Ari nodded "Okay. So do you have a role and need my help?"  
"Well yeah. It's an ancient movie about the relation of a persian king and a chinese princess. And in you I found both. It couldn't have been better."   
"But I am not a chinese princess."  
"But you are persian and well studied in China. What more else could I have asked for?" he said.   
Ari wasn't sure what he was up to but nodded in agreement. They both finished up and Rami slowly made his way home. Ari couldn't believe how fastly he entered her territory. It was frightening to her but nothing she couldn't handle to this extent. He wasn't being weird actually. Just a normal neighbor.


	4. Chapter 4

Some time passed by and it's been quiet around Ari's work and her new neighborhood. She liked being left alone. It wasn't that she wasn't able to enjoy someone elses company. But she felt that  spending time with other people costed her a lot of energy. And from time to time she just needed to recharge her social interaction batteries. Those few coincidential occasions with Rami made her tired already. So the last few days did her real good.

It was a saturday night and Ari laid in bed turning around in the bed. She took the blanket off and put it on again. She stuck her feet out and pulled them inside again. She laid on her right side, left side and on her back and belly, nothing worked. It was one of those nights where just nothing would make her fall asleep. She put the blanket aside and sit on her bed. She looked at the brick walls that would cut her off from the other space in her apartment. Then she looked through the right open space where normally a door would be. She licked her lips and thought about getting at least a door curtain. Maybe made of pearls or maybe just simple fabric. She stood up to grab some socks "I really need a carpet in here too." she put the socks on and walked into the living room. She looked around and just took a seat on the sofa. She was wearing short pants but a long sleeve big top. Her legs were always ok. But she always needed socks on and if not long sleeve shirts, she'd have put on her morning robe. She looked out of her balcony door and stood up again going outside. She took a seat on her new cute balcony furniture. That's how she always imagined it to be. Well at least this was the most realistic and favorable reality she could get. She just looked out the at the sky. Her gaze went from the right to the left. Suddenly something small almost a cigarette look alike fell down. He stopped her breath and knew Rami was at his balcony too. She thought if she'd start breathing again he'd hear her. She shook her head and realized what nonsense that thought was. She stood up and walked a few steps towards her balcony rail. She really wanted to call out his name. But were her batteries all recharged? That she had the desire to out herself and maybe enjoy his company was of a sign for her. She thought it would be ok. She put her right hand on the balcony rail and called him "Rami?" she waited a few seconds. And then his answer came "Darya? You aren't asleep?" he asked in a very surprised tone. Darya stepped even closer to the rail "No. I can't sleep." Rami laughed instantly and she made a little pause. She then stepped closer again as if there was more space "Do you want to come down?" she asked. She waited a bit and there was no answer. She bit on her lip and thought that this was damn inappropriate. He must have felt embarrassed. Why would she ask him that and why would he wanna go to another womans house in the middle of the night. Friends maybe, but not neighbors.  

She suddenly heard a big knock on her door. She turned around with big eyes and went inside hovering behind her apartment door. She coughed "Hello?" she whispered "It's me!" Rami whispered back through the door. Ari let a breath out and opened the door. She pulled him inside "That was kind of psycho." she said. Rami turned around to her "I knocked once or twice quietly but I think you didn't hear it. So I just had to knock really loud once. I hope we didn't wake the neighbors." Rami said in a funny posture.  
"We? Are you kidding me?" Ari laughed. As he shrugged his shoulders Rami pulled out cigarettes from his grey jogging pants "May I?" Ari moved towards the balcony "Let's go out then." They both walked out and sat on the balcony chairs and the table. Ari promptly walked inside and came out with a little a small plate which she placed on the little round table "For the ashes!" Rami took out a cigarette and lit it on. He saw Ari stretching out her hand "Me too!" Rami laughed "Darya, Darya! You smoke?" She shrugged her shoulders "No. Just a stress smoker." she answered. Rami nodded "Why are you stressed?" he asked.  She bent over to him so he could lit the cigarette on for her. She slowly looked up and saw how he stared into her eyes directly. The cigarette was on but both stayed in that posture for one moment longer than necessary. She slowly moved back and sat in her chair "At nights like this, when I don't sleep. I feel stressed. But honestly? Right now just sitting here with you, I enjoy it." she said looking into the sky. 

"I want to say thank you. But I am baffled."  
"Why?"  
"I know we've talked here and there. But I feel like this was such a pure and honest statement you just made."  
"Mmmh, I think you are right Rami."  
"About what?"  
"Ive kept back 'til now. I tried to be cautious."  
"Why?"  
"I think I try to be careful not to scare other off with my real self."  
"What could be so scary about you?" he asked in a low and sincere tone.  
Ari took one breath of her cigarette "Honesty." she said and made a pause "I mean my honest self. Not only me but people are scared to see other people's true colors. It's hard to handle that. Because when you let others people honesty enter your life, you automatically let down your guard. It's normal for a human being."  
"I agree partially."  
"Partially?"  
"Yes. I think it's obvious why you would be careful." he made a pause "You don't want to get hurt." he looked over at her as he took a breath of his cigarette. Just at the same moment Ari looked over at him and their eyes met. The only sound being heard through the silence was the burning of the ashes. Both slowly but finally smiled and Ari looked away laughing. She took one more puff and put her cigarette out on the little plate. She moved so quickly Rami tried to follow her movements. She stormed against the rail stretched her hands and her whole body out and screamed out "Gooood niiiiight!". Rami was so shocked her pulled Ari from behind her shirt and put an arm around her waist. He then dragged her inside the apartment and Ari started to laugh heavily. Rami let go off of her and looked at her shocked with big eyes at first. He then started to form a smile "So that's what you meant with your true self?" he started to join her heavy laugh and hold his belly. Ari jumped backwards and let herself fall down on the sofa still laughing. Rami walked next to the table and kneeled holding himself with one hand on the table. Both let out a soothing heavy breath at the same time. Rami also let himself fall on the cushions at the ground. Ari got up and looked him "Hey you aren't wearing any socks!" she got up and ran into her bedroom. Rami rested his upper body on his elbows to have a low view over what was going on "Why?" Ari came back with socks she unfolded "This way you will get sick. You didn't even wear slippers coming down." she started to kneel in front of his feet. Rami tried to rise his upper body a little bit more "What are you doing?" she didn't even answer putting him the socks on. She  then jumped back on the sofa in a perfect position where she rested her head on her hand and her elbow rested on the sofa. He stretched his legs out to take a look at the socks "Fries?" he laughed out loud literally. She stared at how he looked at the ceiling. Ari laid back too. They both remained in that posture for a while. 

Rami quietly rose his head. It was dark and so he stood up. He quickly saw Ari was asleep. One arm rested on her breast and the other was hanging down from the sofa. He walked around the table and stood in front of Ari. He went into a squating position resting his arms on his knees. He stared at Ari with wide eyes and an open mouth. He then blinked a few times realizing that he acted really creepy. He got up and walked around the sofa again. He looked into her bedroom and went further to take a look at her books. The book shelf was enormously big and almost covered the whole wall. And Ari's books almost fill all of it up. He couldn't believe she had that much books. He saw books about religion,  history, novels, dictionaries and many more. And he breathily laughed out when he realised how melticulously precise she was. They were organized by the authors last name or by the books title. Depended on the section.  He walked around in the apartment. He didn't dare to open the door to the bathroom. He passed by it and stood in front of another door. He bit on his bottom lip and put his hand on the knob of the door. it was a big irony black door. He slowly turned the door knob and his eyes grew wide in ecstasis. The door didn't open, but he smiled i the knowledge it wouldn't open up. He let go of the door knob and turned around again. He walked back to Ari and softly shook her shoulders "Ari. You need to go to bed. Your neck will hurt." she just mourned and turned her head to the other side. Rami moved between the sofa and the table and lightly pulled her arm. She automatically stayed in the sitting position but her head fell down. Rami took her feet and put them on the ground "Oh my... Ari, you are just like a puppet." he chuckled. He put his arm around waist and pulled her up. Her head fell on his shoulder. He stayed like that for a second "I'm so stupid." He slowly laid her down on the sofa again. Then again he put one arm under her knees and his other under her neck. He picked her up like she was a feather. When he stood in front of her bed he pushed the blanket away with his foot. He then put her down really softly. When he covered her with the blanket he sat beside here "I really don't wanna go." He looked up and down her face beig mesmerized. He shook his head lightly. And finally got up to move backwards out of the bedroom. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rami was sitting on the couch holding one of Ari's books in his hand. It was a book about chinese history. One topic he would need to read more about soon enough. He looked out the window. It was clearly bright. He could feel the sun and the fresh air entering the apartment. He heard footsteps approaching him. Before he could turn his head Ari made a pirouette and landed on his lap. He looked at her with wide eyes. She put her arm around his neck and started to slowly carress his his face with her hand. He looked into her eyes and unwillingly opened his mouth a little bit. She also approached his face with hers with an open mouth. Rami started to form words "I..." he stuttered "I wa..." and again "I want...". Ari was about to make a sound too "Yes..." she made a pause and became louder "Yes, that's it!" Rami's forehead frowned "What?" Ari stayed in her position "Yes! That's what I've been looking for!" Rami turned his head and heard typing sounds. The moment he turned back he Ari was gone "What the..." he talked to himself. He blinked once, the whole room turned dark. He blinked a second time and started being thrown back into reality. He opened his eyes and looked around not moving. He examined himself. He was still at Ari's and a book was covering his belly. He took it in his hand "I was really reading about China, huh?!" he put it aside and stuck his head over the sofa. He looked into Ari's bedroom, saw her notebook was turned on but she was nowhere to find. Ari poured herself some coffee and pulled another mug out of her cupboard hitting it on the kitchen counter "So, you slept here?" she poured some coffee into the other mug "Who do you actually think you are?" Rami scratched the back of his head and sat straight on the sofa "I'm Rami Malek." Ari put the coffee can aside "Seriously?" He laughed and got up walking towards her, bending over the kitchen counter facing Ari and grabbing one of the mugs "I'm sorry. I actually just planned to read one of your books for a bit and then to leave. But looks like I fell asleep. I'm never gonna do it again." Ari walked around the kitchen counter, crossing the living room to enter her bedroom and sit at her desk. Rami turned around and hugged the sofa still holding his coffee cup "What are you doing? I heard you typing." Ari started to type again "I woke up early in the morning and I felt like there was something coming up. When I saw you lying there with that book all my thoughts and hypothesis came up." she suddenly did some weird hand movements around her upper body to symbolize how she felt. Rami started laughing "You are so funny. But I like the way you work. So much motivation." he took a sip from his coffee. Ari shook her head "Don't be intrigued by this. I have low moments so often. And then..." she stopped talking. Rami's eyebrows rose "Then what?" Ari shook her head again and laughed "Nothing." She pointed her finger up "I'm almost done. Wait."

Rami waited for one more moment, one more minute and for almost fifteen more minutes in the end. Ari threw her arms in the air "Finished!" she called out loud. She looked out to spot Rami on the sofa but didn't see him. He stuck his head over the sofa again "Really? Great. I've finished almost one chapter about the Tang dynasty already." he said in a low monotonous voice. She stared at him "Actually, why are you still here?" she asked in a high voice so it didn't sound too serious. Rami hung himself over the sofa "Why?" he said in low voice and made a small pause so Ari would get caught in his gaze "Don't you like me being around you?" he ended his sentence. As she looked into his big green eyes she swallowed. She tried to detach her gaze from his. She was finally able to look away and fixed her eyes on the red brick wall in her apartment. She stood up to disappear out of his sight. She walked to her commode to get out one pair of socks and put them on. She walked out to the living room and saw he was still following her with his eyes. Ari just tried to suppress a laughter so in the end her face turned all read and she simply smiled embarrassed. Rami smiled widely "I will just take it as a yes. You like it!" he laughed. She acted as if she didn't care and shrugged her shoulders, which made him laugh even more. She wasn't sure what to say or how to act after yesterday. He got her at her weak time. In the middle of the night after rolling around in her bed for hours. It's true that she gave him a little insight but now that she was back to her senses she decided it wasn't right. She leaned on the kitchen counter looking at Rami with a questionable face expression and sighed. His smile disappeared and his eyes grew wide "No Ari. I'm kidding. I know I can be annoying sometimes." he stood up and walked towards the door. Ari approached him with an open attitude "No." she said frankly. She looked to the ground and up again "Do you know that cute cafe around the blo.." she wanted to ask but Rami cut off her question with a wide smile "The Maisy's? Yeah, I do." he pointed with her finger at her and laughed. She smiled and frowned her forehead. How could he be so manly, yet so graceful in his movements and actions. He opened the door "I'm just gonna need some shoes and a hoodie." Ari stopped him "Wait. You mean you go out like this?" He walked over the floor targeting the steps "Heck yes! It's 9 am at a sunday morning. Noone will care." he laughed. Ari pulled her stuck out head back into the apartment. She knew he was indeed right. But she wasn't used to go out in her sleeping clothes. In fact she always wore 'appropriate' clothes. She pulled out a big redwine hoodie she bought from Ireland last year and black sneakers. She put them on and before she walked out the door she thought about putting at least some lip balm on that'd give her lips a hint of red. She heard Rami's voice in the big iron green doorframe "Oh look at you in your big comfy clothes being all cute." Ari turned to him and looked surprised. He opened the door to signalize her to move out the door "Darya. You don't even need that lip balm." Ari ran him almost over before he could say any more  that'd get into her head. 

They walked along the street and Ari looked at peple walking their cute little puppy dogs. Others were walking with a stroller and old people were taking their routine walk. Only two out of ten people walked hastily. Ari took a deep breath and thought - Let go. Let go. Let go!- She just wanted to let herself go and do pirouettes on the side walk. She wanted to be normal. Be her normal self with Rami. With such a nice and positive and open and good looking... neighbor. She automatically stopped her walk and looked through the window people sitting at tables sipping coffee. Rami stood in the door "Ari. Are you coming?" she looked at him and simply followed him into the cafe. Her eyes wandered around "We are here already." Rami laughed "Yes we are." It was a cafe which was full of  rusty wood furniture and vintage looking accessories. The accessories had all greyish green and orangy colors. There were flower pots on every table. Rami walked towards a table in the corner. It had a purple vase with a yellow flower in it. He pulled a chair and moved on to take a seat on the other chair.  
"What would you like?"  
"Let me see..." Ari said turning around to look at the board they'd write the menus and drinks down with chalk "I guess scrambled eggs and a coffee."  
"Sounds good. I'm gonna go with the same and a croissant."   
They ordered and then sit around in silence for a short while. Ari looked around as if she saw the cafe for the first time in her life. Rami looked at Ari and where her eyes wandered. His chin went up and he pulled his lips together. He kept staring at her for three more seconds and then opened his mouth "Darya." he said with his low voice. She turned her head to face him.  
"Yeah?"  
"Is your boss professor Lockhardt?"  
"Yes?" Ari answered in a questioning tone. She didn't know who she was asking but she was surprised "How did you know?"  
"Well, I told you that I have this new role which plays in ancient times."  
"Wait. So you weren't joking?"  
"Why would I joke about that?" Rami said in a serious tone frowning his forehead a bit.  
"That's not what I meant. I just thought... nothing. Sorry."  
"No need to be sorry. But I'm serious." Rami put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hand folded into each other formed in a big fist.

"So? Professor Lockhardt is your professor."  
"Yes."  
"So Darya..." the way he called her whole name made her feel serious about this situation.  
"How is your professor? Is he capable?" he still held his hand in a fist but moved them  a bit down so his  eyes had the same level as Ari's.   
"Well, I guess."  
"I guess? What does that mean?" he seemed upset. Now Ari knew he was for real. It wasn't that she didn't believe him about his work but his chatty and positive attitude hid his serious side until that moment. She coughed to clear her throat.  
"He is really serious about his works. His theories and his way to work are really progressive and deep. But the most amazing thing about him is that he is keeping a multidimensional eye on everything. He doesn't think one sided. Nor two sided. He includes many different perspectives which bring different paradigms to his work." she nodded as she said that.   
Rami joined Ari nodding. He looked to the side to watch out the window and then turned his head to face Ari "Well then, we will soon work together." he said smiling.

Author's note: That I chose purple as Ari's sofa color and me founding a picture exactly like this was a total coincidence. I think it's so funny. Thanks for everyone reading so far. I'd love some feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful people, I am really happy when you stopped by my story and made it to chapter 6 already. This part got really long so I had to cut it off at some moment.   
> I hope you guys like the story line so far. As you might have noticed, I am about to write a really long story line, that's why there are so many details in these short situations. I would really love to get some feedback from you guys. A comment, a like, anything would be great to know if this story is worth to keep writing. Thanks for reading and much love !

Ari looked into the mirror she set up in front of her bed at the wall. It was taller than she was and wide enough to spot the whole width of her body, which wasn't immensly wide. She looked up and down at herself. She brushed over her hazelnut straight hair, which felt like silk. Normally she had naturally curly hair, but when she blowed it out it was straight with beautiful waves at the bottom. It was hair other people would spend more than half an hour on. Her natural hair color was brown but she wanted to feel brighter so she colored them a tick lighter. She brushed through it one more time and it ended on her chest. She then looked at her face with focused eyes. First the left side and then the right side. She had a beautiful nose, high and straight. It wasn't as if it was a hollywood nose. But it was perfectly proportioned to her face, so from time to time people noticed how beautiful her nose was. She frequently added cat eyeliner to her almond shaped eyes so they'd stand out even more. The least feature she liked, were her lips. The upper lip was a bit thinner than the bottom lip. But when she stepped back and looked at her face she knew she was blessed. Her face features were perfectly proportioned to each other. She nodded as if she agreed with herself. 

Her eyes wandered down to her torso.   
She knew she didn't have the biggest chest but it was the perfect amount for her. When she was younger she was annoyed that her chest was flatter than her backside. But as she got older she realized that this made her body look pretty. It wasn't really obvious. Only when someone would really focus on it. She turned to the side and put a hand on her pear shaped belly. She always had this belly fat and now she was at peace with it. She bent backwards to stuck her belly fat out even more. She smiled returned to her original position and put both middle fingers up to her right and left "Looks good to me!" she said to the world which would never hear it. But saying it out loud assured her of her confidence in her looks. She knew she was blessed with an appearence other people would compliment. That's why she never cared about it any further. Instead she stuck her head in books to absorb every letter and every word. Sometimes she felt that she knew too much, but at other times she realized she was just at the beginnig of her enchanting journey of the world and its secrets.

She turned her notebook on and connected it with her speakers. Then  _Queen_  music started, playing through her whole apartment. She danced behind her kitchen counter, while making her breakfast. That day she went for oatmeal and fruit toppings. Everytime she prepared something that healthy, she felt like a food guru from  _Instagram_. But she knew for sure she had the worst eating habits. Nontheless she had her five minutes. She sat on her balcony with her coffee and her oatmeal. She looked up at the sky and smelled the air that was filled with a decent coffee smell. The weather wasn't that warm, nor that cold. She turned her head over to look at the concrete ceiling which was covering her head. So did his words mean that her private life and work life would get mixed up from now on? What exactly did Rami mean when he said they'd be working together in the future. When she asked him last weekend he didn't explain any further. He just said "I will talk to professor Langford." So she asked "What do you mean?" and his final answer was "Well, I want his consulation about certain historical facts.". In the end she was fine with that answer. But how would that make them work together? She didn't question it any more, since she didn't want to interpret too much into it. Many people would meet up with certain professors to get consultation. Experts and also laymen. It was nothing new to her.

Ari turned the music off before she slipped into her shoes to go to work. She took her keys off the hook, next to her door and under the clock Rami hung up for her. She closed the door behind her. Automatically she walked towards the elevator and pushed the button. As the door opened she got in. She pushed her button but realized the elevator went upstairs anyways "Damn it, no. I want to go down." she said pushing the button more intensively. She gave up and the door opened. As the door opened she already figured out who'd get in. "Good morning!" Rami said shining all over his face "Good morning." Ari answered smiling back at him. She actually was a morning person but only when she had a good amount of sleep. And her frequent sleeping problems made it too hard for her sometimes. Rami turned to Ari "So?" he said cheekily moving his shoulders. Ari raised her eyebrows and stuck her head out "So?" trying to imitate his behaviour. He laughed "Are you heading to work?" he asked. Ari nodded "Yes. Indeed I do." she said pausing a second "And you?" again imitating his cheeky behaviour from before. Rami laughed again "Well I am going to a meeting."  
"A meeting?"  
"Yes. For the new movie."  
"Oh!" she paused "Is it actually a big movie? I mean are they gonna make it big? Or is it a small production?"  
"Well, I feel like it's gonna be a bigger production." he said slowly with his husky voice.  
"Oh that's good right? Then you can maybe have a breakthrough!" she said cheeringly.  
"Yes. When I'm lucky it's gonna be a hit." he said lifting his chin and smirking in the typical way he did. He didn't say anything for a few secons but just stared at Ari. Suddenly he said "You are cute." Ari turned her head to her left to look at him suprised "What? Why?" He shrugged his shoulders. And at that moment they arrived at the exit of the buildung. Rami walked ahead and held the door open just like a gentleman. Ari made a funny british movement with her hand to thank him. Before she could walk her way he touched her by her shoulder all of a sudden "When are you gonna get off work today?" she frowned her forehead easily "At around 4 or 5 pm I think. Depends. And it's kinda free. Why?"   
"Today I'm gonna come by to see professor Langford."  
"Oh, really?"  
"Yes. I told you."  
"Yeah right."  
"So how about I come by later and when you are done with work we can go home together."  
"Yeah... sure." Ari said as slowly as possible. At that moment her head was just slow at processing what was going on. Rami smiled showing his teeth a bit "Great. See you later then."

Darya stared at her computer screen focusing and typing. She, on and off, grabbed her coffee mug to drink a sip of it. She switched from one paper to another. She had three or four books on her desk. Reading all of them at the same time. She suddenly stopped and leaned back in her black chair. She looked around her office as if she was checking if someone else was in the room. Her mood changed and she felt like listening to music. But she knew that this wasn't appropriate in her working area. Turning music on in an office wasn't the right thing to do. So in the end she fished out her phone and her earphones from her red bag. She plugged the white earphones in her phone, went on her music app and chose her favorite band  _Queen_. She plugged her earphones in her ears and started to play  _I want to break free_. As soon as the music started she stood up and slowly started moving to the music. First her head and then her shoulders. She moved her head gracely from the right to the left and shrugged her shoulders up and down at the same time. When the music really set in, her hips started moving too. She closed her eyes and did a pirouette like a ballerina. Her office wasn't that big, but big enough to dance off her mood. At the end of the song she did a few small headbangs and drummer movements with her arms. As the song ended she pulled out the earphones and laughed. She was out off breath and she loved it. She opened the door of her office to go to the kitchen. She walked in with a heavy breath "What did you do? You sound as if you just did some work out." the man in the light blue shirt asked laughingly. He was tall with dark blonde hair and blue eyes.   
"Oh, Evan!" she laughed at her co-worker a bit nervously "No, I was just..." she said and then stopped "Do we still have coffee?" she said grabbing the coffee can. He walked towards her but then leaned on the fridge next to her and the coffee can. She poured herself some more fresh and hot coffee. He looked at her with a cup in his hand, not sure what to say "So..." Ari blew on her coffee to cool it down. She looked up with her eyes since he was way taller, waiting paitently for his sentence to end "how do you like your new working place and New York so far? It's been a month now right?" She took a sip and faced him "It's actually more than a month now. Maybe a month and a half? And so far... it's been actually good. I really love work. Everyone here... and you of course are so nice and great to work with." she said changing her considering tone to a smile. This response conjured a smile on Evan's face. She kept talking "And New York is great too. I mean I've been here sometimes when I was younger. My hometown isn't that far away after all." she took one more sip before she kept talking "But luckily the fast lifestyle didn't get to me yet. And I hope it won't in the future. I like being all slow and calm." she laughed doing a hand movement to put some pressure on her words. Evan joined her laugh "That sounds good to me. A fast lifestyle has more disadvantages than advantages in my opinion. But you know, you should check out the diverse cuisines. They are amazing!" he said absolutely amazed on his own. He moved his one hand in excitement. Ari laughed at the fact how much he must love food. She was really happy to be surrounded by so many great people. "Especially that one place in the.." suddenly they were interrupted whenshe heard someone call her name behind her "Ari?" Evan stopped talking and looked over Ari's shoulder. She turned around and saw Rami standing in the door frame "Hey! I recognized your laughed from afar." he said pointing with his finger at her smiling. Ari bit her bottom lip smiling softly. She didn't say anything but just stared at him for a second "Evan, this is Rami. Rami this is Evan my co-worker." she pointed at both of them. Evan reached out to Rami's hand to shake it "Hey, nice to meet you." so did Rami "Rami is my neighbor. Today he had a consultation with professor Langford." she picked out a mug from the cupboard "Coffee?" she said picking the coffee can up already "Sure." Rami said shrugging his shoulders. She poured it in and then picked both coffee cups up "Let's go to my office." she said moving towards him to signalize him to move out the door frame. She turned her head to Evan to say one more quick word "See you Evan! And tell me more about that one restaurent next time, okay?" Evan just raised his cup and nodded with a smile on his face. 

 Ari put both cups on the desk somewhere between the many books and sat down on her chair. So did Rami. He took a seat on the chair next to her desk. He looked around and realized how empty it was "Why don't you have anything here yet?"  
"I don't know. I guess I was busy with the apartment so that's why I didn't think of the office yet. But you are right. Feels kinda empty in here."  
"You should shift some of your many books in here. And maybe a painting over there." he said pointing at the empty  dark green wood book shelfs and the shallow white wall.  
"I will get some new books next week. And... why does it feel like I'm talking to an inner architect." she said laughing. Rami just smiled and nodded taking a look around. He suddenly stopped and was all quiet "What is this?" Ari frowned her forhead "What?" she also stopped everything she was doing to listen "This noise." Rami turned his head and grabbed her phone on one of her books. He looked at her phone screen and smiled "It was your phone." he said " Queen, huh?" Ari raised her eyebrows "Love... THEM." she said with a lot of pressure. Rami turned the music off and nodded still smiling "So? Are you done with work or do I need to go home alone?" he asked her in a questionable tone. She turned to her computer screen "Well, if you can wait 15 more minutes we can go home together." He agreed immediatley "Sounds like a deal. I will wait. I will keep myself busy here." he pulled out his phone, waving it and finally leaned back in his chair. Ari nodded in agreement and turned her head back to her computer screen. Her face expression turned right into working modus. She started typying and stretched her head over this and that book. She didn't know what happened to her but she was typing like the wind. Maybe it was because of Rami who sat next to her. But she felt the motivation rising up her head. Her mind focused on its highest level. After some time Rami looked up from his phone to check if Ari was done or not. He knew, that  20 minutes already passed, but he didn't dare to interrupt her. He raised his phone to open his camera. He made one click, two clicks and then closed it down again. He wasn't the type to take pictures. But he felt like that moment was worth remembering. So he did one of the things he usually never did. Even though Ari didn't notice he felt caught, by himself. That was pretty much odd already. He put his phone in the pocket of his pants and crossed his legs. He just stared at Ari who after five minutes opened her mouth and suddenly stopped typing. She raised her hands from the keyboard with a very confused expression on her face. Rami looked at her concerned "What's wrong?" he asked seriously. She turned her head in his direction and looked at him. She quietly said "I'm done." Rami exhaled in frustration and relief "Oh god... and I thought something happened." Ari stood up energized, smiled and grabbed her little bag "No. Let's go!" Rami just followed her vigorous shape in amazement.


	7. Chapter 7

Authors note: Hey you guys. I would love to get some feedback. I really put a lot time and effort into this story. So I hope you guys will show me what you think.   
Much love <3

"What do you mean  _taking a cab_?"  
"I mean let's take a cab."  
"Rami! It's New York. That'd take so long."  
"Then..."  
"Let's take the subway of course."  
"Oh, ok then." Rami held his chin in his hand. He had a serious posture and nodded. Ari padded on his shoulder. 

Ari kept feeling strangers elbows and hands in her back. The subway was so full that full body contact wasn't avoidable. She looked up at Rami and and spotted his green eyes under his cap. He looked into her eyes and smiled for a short second. Ari tried to put her hand into her bag to fish something out of it. But she kept touching other people on the subway, just like they kept hitting their elbows into her back. She slowly pulled out her hand from her red bag giving up on what she was looking for. She looked around and then stared at the shallow white subway ceiling. She listened  to the busy sound of people moving and bags striving other people's jackets. She felt a hand pulling her arm. When she looked down she saw how Rami pulled her against himself. They suddenly stood only 3 finger widths apart. She softly asked "What...?" In one sweep she stood at Rami's original position and he stood in front of her, shielding her from other people's touches. She looked around with an open mouth and after her head made half a round she stopped in front of her facing Rami's vision with big eyes. He looked at her with round eyes. The cap threw a shadow over his face and at once she noticed every detail of his face. She noticed the fine lines on his forehead, the soft and small wrinkles under his big eyes and the deep laugh lines around his mouth. A smile slowly appeared on her face. It was a weak, yet meaningful smile. She thought how every line his face told a story. How valueable they were. Her present conciousness perceived a slow motion movement. Rami raised his chin lightly and directed down to Ari's right. When the slow motion scene ended she realized he was pointing at her bag "Take it out." he said in a low voice only hearable for her. Ari shook her head invisibly. One more time she put her hand in her bag and pulled out her phone with earphones plugged in already. She held it in her hand and checked Rami's gaze for a second. He looked down on her hands, examining her hand movements. She put one earphone in her ear, lowered her hand to pick up the other earphone. She moved it towards Rami raising her eyebrows softly. With her expression she asked him  _"Do you want to?"_  and he joined her conversation raising his eyebrows too for a second  _"Yes."_  he said voicelessly. She carefully tried to figure out his ear to put the earphone in. She looked down on her phone opening her music app. She scrolled down her music, trying to choose an appropriate song. Her hand stopped when she spotted one of her favorite songs, " _Sleeping on the floor_ " by  _the Lumineers._

She looked up in the air to focus on nothing. She simply wanted to listen and her lips started moving to the lyrics of the song. Once again her slow motion perception kicked in. The song had its usual tempo but for her it felt like that moment would take forever. Rami fixed his eyes on Darya's lips. He followed every of her individual movements. His eyes wandered up and down her face. And out of nowhere he stepped closer to Ari, even though there was no more space left between them. Ari was torn out of her trance and turned her head to face Rami with a bit of a surprised face expression. But he didn't smile, nor did he change his face expression. He opened his mouth "I like it." he said simply. Ari smiled "That's good. I don't share my music so often." she said.  
"Why?"  
"It feels intimate, doesn't it?"  
"Are we intimate right now?" he asked at last and made Ari laugh. She didn't even answer anymore. She licked her lips and looked to her right to avoid Rami's gaze. This time she felt oddly nervous. The moment the song was over Ari pulled out the earphones "We are gonna arrive soon." she said softly. Rami nodded. Ari leaned on the door "I feel so tired." she said quietly. Rami still stood in front of her firmly with a subtle appearing smirk on his face "When we get home you can take a nap." he said, as if they lived together. But Ari didn't mean to even respond to that comment. She just closed her eyes and nodded. After momentary nodding off she was torn out of her almost arriving dreamy. Rami pulled Ari against himself to get her away from the opening doors. She turned her head and realized the doors were about to open. She looked back at him and nodded to show him a  _thank you_.

As they were walking Ari stretched her arms into the air "Ah! I had too much coffee. That made me tired." she shouted. Rami kicked small stones he spotted on his path "Is that even possible? I thought coffee should have the opposite effect." he laughed.  
"Not with me. You know, many things don't work normally with me." Ari joked in a funny matter. In front of the building Rami would get out his keys to open the door. Again he signed Ari to enter the building first. It was a  _ladies first_  move. They waited for the elevator and when they got in Ari looked up "Do you wanna do something later?" she said aprubtly. She didn't even know why that question came out of her mouth. Rami turned his head looking at her from the side. His expression was empty "I can't." he said plainly "I still need to go somewhere." he kept on saying. Ari didn't even lower her eyes, she just kept staring at the ceiling "Oh, okay. Sure." she answered in the same plainly matter he did. Nevertheless she couldn't help but put on an apologetic smile. She felt caught. Even though there was nothing to feel caught about -  _I feel stupid. Why do I feel stupid? I should stop thinking so much. Ari, turn your head off._  - They arrived at Ari's floor and the doors opened. Ari walked out the elevator and made a quick turn around. She waved at Rami without a face expression. Rami stared at her with his big round eyes. He moved with the motion of the closing the door, which closed only to one side. He moved to the far right to take a last glance through the tight gap, before the door closed. He moved his head searching for her as if she disappeared. And then he was gone. Ari stood in front of her apartment door with her keys in her hands. She stared at the elevator with an open mouth -  _What did just happen?  -_ she asked herself. Unknowingly her eyebrows got tensed up and the muscles in her face became stiff. She blinked her eyes, eager to calm down. She started to ease up and shook her hand which held her keys. She entered her apartment and felt a cold breeze. She looked around to figure where the cold air came from. She walked into the four walls of her bedroom and saw the window being open ajar. She closed it, walked backwards and let herself fall on her bed. The moment her muscles were ready to relax the door bell ringed. -  _The door bell?_  - Ari's head turned in direction of her living room. "I didn't even know I had one." she said out loud getting up from the bed. She stood in front of her apartment door and pushed the inter phone button "Hello?" she said slowly. Suddenly a loud sharp sound reached her ears "It's us!" she heard through the inter phone. She let go off of the button to protect her ears "Oh god..." she said slowly. She pushed another button to let in whoever attacked her hearing ability. She opened the door and stuck her head out the door staring at the elevator. The small door opened up and the elevator light shone upon the floor. Three people stepped out the elevator and walked towards Ari whose head still stuck out the door. A guy and a girl walked in the first row. They had  big exaggerated smiles on their faces. The guy was small, but thin. He had styled dark blonde hair. His face looked neat, right down to the last detail. Even his eyebrows looked like he put a lot effort into it. They were visibly clean and plucked. He wore a white shirt and a leather jacket on top of it. The girl was wearing a pink pinafore dress with purple tights. The colors were so popping, that it was unmissable. Behind them walked the third person, who completed the trio. It was a tall guy with brown hair and neat normal clothes. He was walking with his hands into the pockets of his black pants and on top he wore an office-like white shirt with blue thin stripes. He had brown short hair and a three-day beard. His face expression was the total opposite. He had an empty look but his eyes expressed that he was displeased. Ari opened the door a whole arm widely. She looked at the girl, who was holding a two bottles of liquor. She raised her eyebrows, tilted her head to the side and put on a wide fake smile "Oh, great!" she nodded.   
"Ari!" the girl shouted in a very long, never ending tone.  
"Hi Katie." Ari's voice finally admitted into how happy she was to see them. Her fake smile turned into a real genuine smile. She opened her arms widely to welcome Katie into a big hug. But she just passed by her to put the bottles on the big wood table in the living room. Ari folded her hands into fists, still holding her arms up "Yeah, sure..." she said nodding to herself. Instead the guy with the leather jacket walked into her arms and lifted her up "Mi amor! How are you?" Ari put her hands around his neck and laughed "Eddie! Good good, how are you?" she tightly hugged him. He let her down and threw himself on the purple sofa. Now Ari raised her eyebrows to put on an understanding look "Dave." The brown haired guy pulled his hands out from his pocket to wrap them around Ari's waist gently "Ari." he detached himself from her still holding her waist with one hand "They are mad... you know I would have never..." Ari nodded and let go of Dave "I know. You would have never brought vodka and wine in the middle of the week to drink." Ari smiled weakly and nodded. Ultimately Katie jumped on Ari to hug her eagerly "Oh come on Ari! Now all of us are finally in New York and that should be celebrated." she said dancing with her whole body. She did some salsa movements and when Eduardo spotted that he jumped up to join into the hot latin dance. Ari walked into her bedroom to come back into the living room again "So? Chinese? Pizza? Thai?" she said typing on her phone already. All of them  agreed on pizza. Noone could ever go wrong with pizza. Before the food arrived they had a little chit chat. All of the four got comfortable on the sofa and on the floor. And Katie insisted on two shots on an empty stomache. Ari's head fell backwards "Gosh, Kitty! Stop it now. Let's at least eat something before I get totally knocked out." she said grumpingly. Then at that moment the door bell ringed and Katie jumped up. Finally the pizza was served and everyone grabbed a piece.   
"So Darya," Katie said in a serious tone.  
"How have you been doing? The last time we've seen you was back home. You never came by and we only heard from you from time to time."  
"Yeah. I know and I'm sorry about that. You know, I've been busy with my degree... and stuff."   
"It's ok. Forgotten and forgiven. We are just happy we finally have you back." Katie squeaked.  
"So just tell us what has been going on?" Eduardo asked "And where would you get such a bomb apartment from? Can you even afford it?" he said looking around.  
"Well, work has been great so far. My mentor and my co-workers are great. And I am just so happy to finally do what I wanted to do." Ari smiled softly and took a small sip from her filled shot glass "And I know. I can't even believe I am so lucky. It was like destiny when I saw the ad for this apartment. And it's so affordable. At first I felt like it was some kind of betrayal and there had to be something fishy about it. But no. I guess this time I am just... really lucky." she laughed. Eduardo and Katie joined her laugh. Dave poured down a glass and held it in his hand "Well, after all you have deserved it." he said in a low but loud voice. Ari's smile slowly blurred and she looked into his eyes. The atmosphere was warm but became quiet. 

Then the sound of a sudden knock filled the apartment. Everyone looked at each other and Eduardo frowned his forehead "It's almost 10 pm. Who would visit you this late?" he said still sober. Ari moved her heavy body up and walked to the door to open it. Rami smiled at her with one hand in his pocket "Hey, it's almost 10 in the middle of the week. But I thought we could..." he said when Katie interrupted his speech "Oh... my... god!" she screamed. Ari turned her head "Katie!" she said immensly. Katie stood up and looked at Rami with an open mouth. Ari sighed "Guys, this is my Rami, my neighbor. And Rami, these are my friends." she said pointing in both directions. Rami popped his head into the apartment and waved for a short second. Katie shook her head and did a real dramatic gesture with her hand "Oh honey. This isn't your neighbor for sure." she said with a little pause. Ari frowned her forehead "This is Mr. Robot!" Katie shouted out with a big laugh. Ari raised her eyebrows in astonishment. -  _Mr. Robot?_  -.


End file.
